The Belgians have been strong advocates of European integration. The Belgian Armed Forces have about 47, active troops.

The operational commands of the four components are subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the Ministry of Defence , which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and Training , and to the Chief of Defence.

The effects of the Second World War made collective security a priority for Belgian foreign policy. This mission was the first in a long line of UN missions which the Belgians supported.

The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: Since , through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union , Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.

Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution , in the early 19th century.

The and oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced serious decline.

As of [update] , the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to Unemployment rates of 8. By October , this had grown to 8.

Belgium switched to the euro in , with the first sets of euro coins being minted in Belgium experiences some of the most congested traffic in Europe.

In , commuters to the cities of Brussels and Antwerp spent respectively 65 and 64 hours a year in traffic jams.

There is a large economic gap between Flanders and Wallonia. Since then, Flanders has been prosperous, among the wealthiest regions in Europe, whereas Wallonia has been languishing.

As of , the unemployment rate of Wallonia is over double that of Flanders. The divide has played a key part in the tensions between the Flemish and Walloons in addition to the already-existing language divide.

Pro-independence movements have gained high popularity in Flanders as a consequence. The 16th century Early Modern flourishing of Western Europe included cartographer Gerardus Mercator , anatomist Andreas Vesalius , herbalist Rembert Dodoens [] [] [] [] and mathematician Simon Stevin among the most influential scientists.

Bakelite was developed in — by Leo Baekeland. In , he started a series of conferences, the Solvay Conferences on Physics and Chemistry, which have had a deep impact on the evolution of quantum physics and chemistry.

Since the modification of the Belgian nationality law in more than 1. The largest group of immigrants and their descendants in Belgium are Moroccans.

Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French and German. A number of non-official minority languages are spoken as well.

French-speaking Belgians are often referred to as Walloons, although the French speakers in Brussels are not Walloons. Total Dutch speakers are 6.

Roughly 23, more German speakers live in municipalities near the official Community. Both Belgian Dutch and Belgian French have minor differences in vocabulary and semantic nuances from the varieties spoken respectively in the Netherlands and France.

Many Flemish people still speak dialects of Dutch in their local environment. Walloon , considered either as a dialect of French or a distinct Romance language , [] [] is now only understood and spoken occasionally, mostly by elderly people.

Walloon is divided into four dialects, which along with those of Picard , [] are rarely used in public life and have largely been replaced by French.

According to the Eurobarometer , Non religious people comprised the Symbolically and materially, the Roman Catholic Church remains in a favourable position.

In the early s there were approximately 42, Jews in Belgium. The Jewish Community of Antwerp numbering some 18, is one of the largest in Europe, and one of the last places in the world where Yiddish is the primary language of a large Jewish community mirroring certain Orthodox and Hasidic communities in New York, New Jersey, and Israel.

In addition most Jewish children in Antwerp receive a Jewish education. This is particularly the case in eastern Wallonia and areas along the French border.

The largest group of immigrants in Belgium are Moroccans, with , people. The Turks are the third largest group, and the second largest Muslim ethnic group, numbering , The Belgians enjoy good health.

According to estimates, the average life expectancy is Death in Belgium is mainly due to heart and vascular disorders, neoplasms , disorders of the respiratory system and unnatural causes of death accidents, suicide.

Non-natural causes of death and cancer are the most common causes of death for females up to age 24 and males up to age Healthcare in Belgium is financed through both social security contributions and taxation.

Health insurance is compulsory. Health care is delivered by a mixed public and private system of independent medical practitioners and public, university and semi-private hospitals.

Health care service are payable by the patient and reimbursed later by health insurance institutions, but for ineligible categories of patients and services so-called 3rd party payment systems exist.

For the first time in Belgian history, the first child was euthanized following the 2 year mark of the removal of the euthanization age restrictions.

The child had been euthanized due to an incurable disease that was inflicted upon the child. Although there may have been some support for the euthanization there is a possibility of controversy due to the issue revolving around the subject of assisted suicide.

Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians. Mirroring the dual structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the Liberal and the Catholic parties , the educational system is segregated within a secular and a religious segment.

The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly Catholic branch education, is organized by religious authorities, although subsidized and supervised by the communities.

Nowadays, to a certain extent, cultural life is concentrated within each language Community, and a variety of barriers have made a shared cultural sphere less pronounced.

Contributions to painting and architecture have been especially rich. The Mosan art , the Early Netherlandish , [] the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque painting [] and major examples of Romanesque , Gothic , Renaissance and Baroque architecture [] are milestones in the history of art.

The avant-garde CoBrA movement appeared in the s, while the sculptor Panamarenko remains a remarkable figure in contemporary art. Belgian contributions to architecture also continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, including the work of Victor Horta and Henry van de Velde , who were major initiators of the Art Nouveau style.

The vocal music of the Franco-Flemish School developed in the southern part of the Low Countries and was an important contribution to Renaissance culture.

Contemporary popular music in Belgium is also of repute. Jazz musician Toots Thielemans and singer Jacques Brel have achieved global fame.

Nowadays, singer Stromae has been a musical revelation in Europe and beyond, having great success. In the heavy metal scene, bands like Machiavel , Channel Zero and Enthroned have a worldwide fan-base.

The poet and playwright Maurice Maeterlinck won the Nobel Prize in literature in Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen brought the Belgian cartoon strip industry a worldwide fame.

Studies in Modern European History, Vol. Peter Lang Pub, New York. The University Press, Cambridge. Retrieved 15 December Habsburg Rule in the Netherlands".

The Johns Hopkins Press. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. University of California Press , Berkeley. Retrieved 10 December Effects spread through European Union and beyond".

Archived from the original on 9 September Retrieved 6 September Retrieved 22 April How long can nations go without governments? The prestigious language in the Spanish Netherlands was clearly French.

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